Monday, August 6, 2007

"We take the turn and the bonehead on the front takes the corner way to fast and hard and goes sliding off the course..." - Report by Lee Gerakos

So the racing this past weekend was fantastic. I had heard so manybad things about these courses and all I can say is that they arecompletely wrong. I saw two crashes this weekend. In both cases itwas a guy taking a corner too hard by himself and crashing out.Otherwise the peloton was great.

So, I showed up at the federal center early saturday to get in agood warmup. I was presented with a very mellow atmosphere. Jumpiecastles and a few tents. Did my warmup and reviewed the race map.This is a twisty course with a slight hill on the backside. Eachlap takes about 10 minutes, so we did 4 in total. Knowing that itis twisty, I was the first to line up and stayed in the front 5 guysfor the first lap. Actually I spent the first 3 laps in the front15 just trying to get some kind of break going. Either attacking,countering, soloing ahead, something. But nothing really took.Hart, rmrc, echelon, louisville, twin peaks, etc. all had good sizedteams representing so I was hoping one of them would actually try towork. but alas, nothing. i guess that's cat 4 racing. so goinginto the last lap, I decided by best option would be to recover forthe first half and then move up at the hill. So, I have everythinggoing to plan, going into the final turn with 200m to go I'm 6thwheel. We take the turn and the bonehead on the front takes thecorner way to fast and hard and goes sliding off the course into thegrass. The guy in second goes around him and off course into thegrass and pulls a lance as we muscles his way back onto the course.In the pandemonium, the 3 guys in front of my all slow down, butspread apart, effectively boxing me in. So a big rush of 10+ guyscome around and I'm scrambling to jump on a wheel. I go, but mymotivation has been deflated by this point, so I complete my 40 mphsprint for 15th. But I had a blast. That race was really whatmakes racing fun.

So Sunday was even better. I had never done Bannock before either.And with a 7 am start time I didn't know what to expect. So I gotup at 4:30, ate breakfast, drank some coffee and headed down therefor the start. Actually, heading out that early is pretty cool.It's neat to see such a busy place be so quiet. So Bannock streetis right south of downtown. Actually, there's a great Cubanrestaurant on the corner of the course called cuba cuba. I highlyrecommend it. Anyways, this is a really cool course on citystreets. Kind of like longmont, but a bit larger of a course with adownhill and uphill section. For the finish, you take the finalhill, turn right, and then sprint for about 150-200m. As usual,there's still about 60 guys at the start and we go from the gun. Sotoday, I figure I will chill out the first half of the race and justsit in and feel it out. So I just navigate the field, watchingriders, see who's feeling good, who's sketchy, etc. The biggestadvantage I've gotten out of doing a full crit season is that I knowwho is who. I know the sprinters, the sketchy dudes, the guys thatgo off the front and do nothing, and the guys that tend to findthemselves in the top of every race. Plus, the huge benefit ofgetting to know these guys is that you get (and give) favors. Like,you get stuck out in the wind as you move up, and the guys you knowlet you move in. Or you go into a break, and the guys you know arewilling to work with you. It takes away a lot of the guesswork andmakes the race much more relaxed.

So, at about minute 20, we have a prime (of which there we 10!) and3 of us get a gap. I'm drilling it at the front for about half alap and our lead is going. The next guy pulls through, our paceslows, and nothing. Agh! man, I really want one of these to workout. I try again like 3 more times during the rest of the race, butnothing. I just think that would be the coolest way to finish. Offthe front in a break in a cat 4 crit. anyways, I'm spend the final5 laps following the wheel of the guy I thought won the race theprevious day. Going into the final hill I'm about 15 back. Irealize already that I'm not where I need to be. F#^%$#! oh well,take the turn and haul a$$ to the finish and take 11th. Not bad,but not great. Having done that course now, I would think 3rd wheelis the place to be. Actually, just about every race I've done, Ithink 3rd wheel is just about perfect.